Kakohwa said the lorry was carrying 15 passengers and eight were injured.

He said Daiton Mudzingwa, who was driving a Nissan UD truck was carrying bananas and bundles of sugarcane and 15 passengers, but on a steep climb failed to engage a propergear, resulting in the lorry rolling backwards before plunging into the river at Selborne.

Names of the deceased have not yet been released because the police are yet to notify their next of kin.

In another incident, a Nyazura man fell into a disused mine shaft in Odzi on Saturday while trying to rescue his goat.

Kakohwa said Simon Mangezi (31), an employee at Progressive Gold Mine on Saturday tried to rescue his goat which had fallen into an abandoned mineshaft in Odzi.

Mangezi, with the help of Rhinos Dhongire (34), decided to go down the shaft with the aid of a rope.

However, the rope slipped from Dhongire’s hands and the deceased fell into the shaft headlong and died on the spot.